WASHINGTON, DC - Telepharmacy is helping pharmacies extend services to more patients, improve medication safety, and alleviate staffing shortages experienced by many rural health care and emergency facilities across the United States. Telepharmacy allows for a pharmacy technician to be remotely supervised in real time by a pharmacist through state-of-the-art telecommunications technology to prepare prescriptions.

The Kansas State Board of Pharmacy, for example, recently adopted regulations allowing a Kansas-licensed pharmacist to electronically supervise one pharmacy technician or pharmacy student in a licensed pharmacy at a medical facility in the state. Remotely supervised pharmacy technicians in these facilities perform typical duties, such as reviewing cart fills and filling automated dispensing cabinets with an offsite pharmacist observing the procedures through a real-time audio, video, or computer connection.

The capacity in which a pharmacy technician may participate in a telepharmacy model differs from state to state, with some requiring registration with a SBOP, a minimum period of work experience, and/or certification through a board-approved program, such as PTCB.

"Pharmacy technicians who are appropriately trained and credentialed are being used in innovative practice models, which allows us to expand pharmacy services to underserved areas and enhance patient care throughout Montana,Ã¢â‚¬ said Ronald Klein, RPh, Executive Director of the Montana State Board of Pharmacy. Ã¢â‚¬Å“The use of pharmacy technicians allows the pharmacist to spend more time with the patient providing drug information, answering questions, and promoting compliance with the drug regimen. Certification provides the public and pharmacists with additional assurance and confidence in their pharmacy provider regardless of their proximity to the pharmacy."